Cielo

[babysharkdoodoodedoodedoo]

Met a baby Cielo and was wondering why it wasn’t more popular. A dedication name for the Virgin Mary, and the Spanish word for ‘sky’, apparently. I thought it was beautiful but never heard it before! What do you think? Any idea why it’s not more popular?

Yes, I speak five languages. I went, as did most friends bringing up children across cultures, with a name that doesn’t morph too much between languages. Something like Constance works better between languages than something where the initial consonant is completely different, as with Cielo.

Is this the Virgin Mary connection? I have known a few women called Mar (sea, masculine) but the full name is or would once have been Maria del Mar. There are a few Spanish names like this.

María is occasionally part of some compound Italian and Spanish boy names too such as Giancarlo Maria or José María or randomly added as an extra middle name.

This is also not quite correct thouch, as in European Spanish a C before an I is pronounced with a soft 'th', so it is more like 'Thyehlo'.

Cielo Drive = Manson to me too. Sorry.

I’ve never heard Cielo pronounced with a th, in which parts of Spain do people say it like that?!

@NotComplicated Thyelo would be the way most European castellano speakers would say it. Syelo in many Latin American accents. Just as the most Europeans would say "Muchas grathias" and LAms would say "Muchas grassias"

Huh? In Castellano, C is pronounced as a soft 'th' when followed by I. Not in Latin American Spanish as mentioned above. I couldn't tell you about Catalan or Galician for example but that's how it is in Castellano. It's my language. I don't know what else to tell you.

I feel embarrassed to have either forgotten or not to know this as in the past I have lived and worked in the Balearics (but German would be most useful there), Valencia and Andalusia and still work for a Spanish company AND I’ve devoured every episode of el ministerio del tiempo including the one where they joked about this 🫣 I wondered if it was regional but clearly not! And I have much Iberian ancestry but by way of the Americas 😳

It's only a soft 'th' sound, not like the 'th' in think.

Now I have the lovely word 'murcielago' (moor-THYE-lagoh) on my mind. Such a beautiful, delicate word and makes you so much more inclined to like the creatures than the English name 'bat'.

In my opinion, it would be advisable to avoid choosing this name as it may only gain popularity as a short-term trend among either the artistic, bohemian middle class or the less affluent and aspirational parents who aspire to the lifestyle portrayed on reality TV shows like "The Only Way Is Essex." Consequently, it could quickly lose its appeal and become tacky.

*In England anyway. IMO.